noun · masculinesecond declension
zōdiacus1
zōdiacus m (genitive zōdiacī)
Classical[zoːˈdi.a.kʊs]Ecclesiastical[d͡zoˈdiː.a.kus]
Meaning
- the zodiac
Diuturna observatione deprehenderunt astronomi, caelos inferiores non moveri ab occasu in ortum super polos mundi, et per circulum aequinoctialem, sed super polos distinctos, nempe super zodiaci, et per circulum zodiacum.
By long observation, astronomers have discovered that the lower heavens do not move from west into the east upon the world's poles and through the circle of the equinox, but upon different poles, specifically the poles of the zodiac, and through the zodiac circle.1581, Christophori Clavii Bamburgensis ex Societate Iesu in Sphaeram Ioanis de Sacro Bosco Commentarius, page 59:
Declension
| form | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | zōdiacus | zōdiacī |
| genitive | zōdiacī | zōdiacōrum |
| dative | zōdiacō | zōdiacīs |
| accusative | zōdiacum | zōdiacōs |
| ablative | zōdiacō | zōdiacīs |
| vocative | zōdiace | zōdiacī |
zōdĭăcus, i, m., = ζωδιακός,
I. the zodiac (pure Lat. orbis signifer), Cic. Arat. 317; Gell. 13, 9, 6.—Hence, zōdĭăcus, a, um, adj., of the zodiac:
zodiacum diastema, Sid. Ep. 8, 11: zodiacus tractus, Mart. Cap. 1, § 44: zodiaca hospitia, id. ib. 1, § 5. Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
zōdiacus ī, m
, ζωδιακός, the zodiac.
Origins
Borrowed from Ancient Greek ζῳδῐᾰκός (zōidĭăkós) κύκλος (kúklos, “little animal cycle”).
Descendants
- Frenchzodiaquefrom Old French zodiaque
- Englishzodiacfrom Old French zodiaque
- Normanzodiaquefrom Old French zodiaque
- Irishstoidiacafrom Old French zodiaque
In English words that came into English from zōdiacus
- zodiaczōdiacus
- zodiacalzōdiacus